Koh Visit

I'm going to warn you right now...this blog post has over 40 pictures in it and will quite certainly be a bit longer than my usual post. I thought about cutting the post in half to make it shorter, but I just couldn't and I think you will see why...

In March we also hosted John and Karna Koh. John is the pastor of Faith Bible church in Ladera Ranch, which is in Orange County. We lived in Orange County for 6 months before we came to Spain, due to delays with our visa, and Gus worked with John at the church for those 6 months. During this time, FBC became very important to us as a family and John and Karna became mentors to us personally. 

John came to preach at the Berea conference on Gospel Centeredness, a topic that has become quite near and dear to our hearts. We learned and grew in this area when we were in Orange County so it was incredibly refreshing to have a whole weekend focused on this topic. Words cannot really express how much my heart was refreshed and challenged over the weekend. John preached in English and Ruben Videira, a Spaniard who is currently studying at the Master's Seminary, flew all the way here to translate. It was fantastic!

Berea conferences are always such a highlight for me. It's a weekend in Toral, which is so fun. And a weekend of incredible worship and preaching, plus fellowship and time with other believers. I always come away from a Berea conference filled with such joy and this conference was no different. Gus was privileged to play in the band again. And we came away so challenged and encouraged after 6 sermons on Gospel centeredness.

John and Karna were also such a blessing to our church body here in León. After preaching all weekend long in Toral, John preached Sunday night at our service. Then he held a Q&A with leadership men in our church. And on Monday night, Karna spoke to the ladies about fearing God and not man, which was incredibly convicting and challenging to me personally.

On Monday we also hosted a luncheon for the Kohs and another very special couple from our church, Jose Luis and Ita. This special couple has become quite precious to our boys; they are their adopted Spanish grandparents. Oh and let's not forget about Queenie. Their golden retriever, whom my boys absolutely adore. This couple blesses us so much. When Gus went to the States for Shepherds' Conference, Jose Luis picked Cael up from school and brought him home. Every day. For 10 days!! They have also babysat our boys quite a few times, including one overnight trip in their house. My boys love this couple and can't get enough time with them.

Ita also speaks English and they knew John and Karna from their previous missions trip to Spain last summer. So we had a precious time of fellowship with this sweet couple.

After both Kohs had ministered their hearts out (!),  we took them to see some fun sights around us, which you will probably recognize. We went of course to the Celtic village and I loved how misty the day was!!

And then, because it's just a few freeway exits away, we stopped at Ponferrada to visit the Templar Knights castle. We had already been a few times to the city and outside the castle, but this time we went inside. It was so awesome!! With breathtaking views of the city. And amazing displays of medieval culture. I am so glad we went!!

 On our way out from the city, we saw a heartbreaking sight. It was the week before Easter. And every day of that week they have parades which culminate on Easter Morning with the largest parade and celebration of the week. Unfortunately the parades are based on the worship of Mary and not Jesus Christ and His work on the Cross.  Such a reminder to pray for the lost who think their participation and worship are anything but idolatry.

And no visit is complete without a trip to the Bodega. Of course. One of the specialities of this restaurant is ox meat. And it is the best meat. EVER. We have had several people tell us this, who have traveled extensively. And if you eat it, you will believe it. John was especially excited about this dinner and didn't eat practically the whole day so he could order the biggest steak. And he was not disappointed!

Unfortunately our time with the Kohs was way too short! We drove them to Madrid to squeeze in extra time with them and stopped in Segovia along the way. Segovia has one of the world's largest Roman aqueduct and the castle that Walt Disney based the castle in Disneyland on. It is quite the place to visit.

 Here's the castle...can you see the resemblance?

Breathtaking first view of the aqueduct, which only gets more phenomenal the closer you get.

The view from the top.

After that, we drove just a little bit longer to the city of Madrid. It was my first time actually inside the city! We only walked around a brief time, stopping in the Plaza Mayor for a family picture then eating dinner in a very yummy Italian restaurant. We ended the evening at a famous chocolate con churros eatery and what a great way to close off our time with the Kohs!

 I think that Gus and myself were personally the most impacted by the Kohs. As you can see, we spent quite a bit of time with them. And every minute was an incredible blessing; to spend such concentrated time was huge. We had countless conversations with them about everything. They blessed us by their wisdom, accountability, example and perspective. We were very sad to see them go but are so thankful for Skype and we know we will always cherish this special time with them!

PS-By the way, I was reviewing this post before editing and noticed how many family pictures there are. Haha! It's because most of these pictures were taken by John to show everyone at FBC. How fun since we normally can't/don't get as many family pics everywhere we go!